Flame-extinguisher.



0. SCHMIDT.

FLAME BXTINGUISHBR.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 3,1911. 1,031,203, Patented July 2, 1912.

OTTO SCHMIDT, OF HASPE, GERMANY.

FLAME-EXTINGUISHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1912.

Original application filed March 9, 1911, Serial No. 613,420. Divided and this application led October 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'O'r'ro SCHMIDT, a subject of the King of Prussia, of 4 Kurzestrasse, Haspe, in Westphalia, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of' Germany, master coppersmith, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flame-Extinguishers; and.I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact deseription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present .invention relatesto flame-extinguishers and more particularly to that kind thereof especially adapted to be used in connection with the filling, storing and tapping-oft1 of igniferous liquids, such as benzin, coal-oil and the like.

The object of my invention is to produc a flame-extinguisher of the above-named kind, which in case of conflagration will prevent the flames from entering .the storage-tank, transport-barrel or other receptacle employed for the reception `of igniferous liquids.y To obtain this end I provide a tubular body, easily and conveniently attachable to the receptacle and penetrating into the latter to a convenient depth, wi-th a series of longitudinal slots arranged above its solid bottom and cover them by a bell-shaped hood in .such av manner, that any gaseous or liquid matter which passes said series of slots and enters said hood shall be deflected toward the mouth of the latter and thus be compelled to pass a second series of narrow slots, which cross the annular-shaped mouth of said hood in a radial direction. By these means I compel any flame which by chance and under. extraordinary favorable conditions, may pass the first series of slots to become extinguished before it can reach the second series of slots, since before reaching the latter it will be cooled-off below the burning-temperature through the combined action of passing the first set of' slots and changing its direction.

This application is a division of' an application filed by me on March 9th, 1911, under Serial number 613,420. p

In the accompanying drawing F1gure 1 Serial No. 652,644.

is a vertical sectional view of an apparatus for unexplosively storing and drawing-ofl igniferous liquids, equipped with flame-extinguishers according to my present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal-sectionalview ofmy flame-extinguisher on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the flameextinguisher taken on line A-B of Fig. 2.

The apparatus in connection with which my flame-extinguisher is shown broadly consists of the storagevtank 1, the overflowchamber 2 seated upon said storage-tank, and a casting 3 whidh is secured to said overflow-chamber and |carries the stand-pipe 4 upward through the roof of the building,

whereas a short pipe 5, which extends downward within a short distance above the bottom of the overflow-chamber 2 is secured between the latter and the casting 3 by means of its annular flange. W'ithin the casting 3 and the stand-pipe 4 the discharge column (3 is arranged, which within the casting 3 is enlarged to form a double-seated valve-casing 7 to which is attached the feed-pipe 8 connected with a feed-barrel (not shown). The latter is usually likewise provided with a flame-extinguisher to prevent explosions either when filled or emptied. To the lower part of the valve-casing 7 the tubular body 9 of my flame-extinguisher is attached through which the guide-rod 10 of the swimmer 11 passes, which through contact with the tappets 12 and 13 of said rod alternately opens and closes the valves 14 and 15 likewise seated upon said rod. -The latter is balanced by the weighted lever 1G which is always returned to its normal position by the aid of its weighted arm 17, as clearlyshown in Fig. 1. Through the bottom of the overflow-chamber also passes the outletpipe 18 which carries a second flame-extinguisher. The tubular-body 9 of the latter passes through said outlet-pipe upward and is screwed into the top of the overflowchamber 2.

The flame-extinguisher itself consists of a tubular body 9 provided with a solid bottom 9 over which a. series of very narrow slots 19 is lon itudinally arranged, which of course mig t be arranged differently or rebell-shaped'hood 20 of such a diameter that an annular `space 21 is formed which is lclosed up by a false bottom. 22 secured to said solid bottom 9 by meansl of the screw 23. To give any gaseous or liquid matter which may pass through the slots 19 a free exit the annular part Aof the false bottom bounding said annular space in the downward direct-ion is provided with a series of narrow` perforations or slots 24, running preferably in a radial direction as indicated in Fig. 3. Minor details may of course vary from case to case without ali'ecting the etliciency of the flame-extinguisher; A comparison of the .two flame-extinguishers I: and II shown in Fig. 1 will Verify this.

The operation of the flame-extinguisher is as follows:-Supposing igniferous liquid is fed through the feed-pipe 8 into the valve-casing 7 and passes in succession through thelslots 19 andv 211, to enter the storage-tank 1 and displace the pressure- .l water 25 therefrom by pressing it through the llame-extinguisher II which dips into said pressure-water; then the latter leaves the storage-tank through the tubular-body of the last-named flame-extinguisher and is carried olf by means of the elbow 26 andv the pipe 27 connected therewith, since it finds the least resistance in this direction. During the inflow of the igniferous liquid the swimmer 11 is gradually lowered until it strikes the tappet 13 whereupon the valve 15 will be closed and the valve 14 opened to its fullest extent. It' nowduringv the emptying of the storage-tank 1 in case-of a tire the igniferous liquid contained in the dischargepipe 6 in spite of the cooling-water admit-ted through the pipes 4 and 28 should get heat-ed to such an extent that an explosion at the overheatedspot is unavoidable, one part of the flames and powerful gases formed thereby would find an exit through the safety-valve (not shown) closing the discharge-column 6, whereas the other part thereof would pass downward to the storage-tank 1. Since they feed-pipe 8 is closed by a check-valve 29, the flame will force'its way downward through the tubular body 9 of the llame-extinguisher I and` try to find its way through the series. of slots 19, which of. course can be accomplished under thel most favorable conditions only. Even granted that this should take place the flame would get cooled-ofi' thereby to such an ex-A tent that in combination with the loss of heat sustained through the change of direction toward the' second series of slots 24 it wouldA be completely extinguished and the remaining gaseous matter reduced to suoli a low temperature that after passing the second series of slots it would be incapable of igniting the igniferous liquid contained in said storage-tank. Hence an explosion of the liquid through the instrumentality of a flame entering by way of the valvecasing 7 is fully excluded.

In case a fire should break out lnea-r the storage-tank 1 itself and heat it to such an extent as to form gases of a considerable pressure, they would escape through the llame-extinguisher vI arranged within the neck of said tank and thus pass ott through the discharge-column 6. vA rising of the temperature of the contents of said storagetank to such an extent that an explosion can take place therein is impossible, since to accomplish this, the whole body of igniferous liquid would have to be raisedv to the ignition-point which of course would vtake a sufficiently long time to have the tire quenched, besides which the means employed for automatically preventing such an increase of the temperature of the liquid would have been set into action in the manner fully described in my application of `March 9, 1911. Should, however, through a combination of extraordinary and' untoward circumstances the pipe 27 be destroyed soy that a flame might pass through the tubular body 9 of the flame-extinguisher Il it would be extinguished in the same manner as explained above in connection with the flame-extinguisher I, if not ex? tinguished beforeI by passing through the pressure-water 25, so that from this direction too an explosion ofthe igniferous liquid stored in the tank 1 is excluded.

. The flame-extinguishers will of course act` liquid should get ignited through carelessness of the laborers, since in any of these cases the flame would have to pass again through the flame-extinguisher I, which as shown above, i's impossible.

l claim 1. A flame-extinguisher for preventing explosions of stored igniferous liquids, consisting of a tubular body provided with a series of narrow slot-s, a solid bottom limiting said slots in one-direction, a hood surrounding said series of slots to leave between said hood and said series of slots a' free space, and a false bottom provided with a series of slots communicating with said free space and arranged at right angles to the first-named series of slots.

2. A llame-extinguisher for preventing explosions of stored igniferous liquids, consisting of a tubular body provided with a series of narrow longitudinal slots and adapted to be inserted into the liquid-receptacle, a solid bottom closing one end of said tubular body and simultaneously limiting said slots in this direction, a bell-shaped hood surrounding said series of slots to Signed by me at Barmen, Germany, this forma free annular space between said hood 14th day of September 1911.

and said series of slots and a false bottom provided with a seriesof radial slots com- OTTO SCHMIDT' [L'S'] 5 immicating with said annular space and'ar- Witnesses:

ranged at right angles to the first named i L. NUFER,

series of slots. l ALBERT NUFER. 

